Revenue eBrief No. 20/16

15 February 2016

Revenue launches dedicated Tax Avoidance webpage

Tax avoidance is the use of tax reliefs and allowances in a way in which they were not intended to be used or attempting to pass off a transaction undertaken primarily to seek a tax advantage as a legitimate business transaction.

The vast majority of Irish taxpayers pay the right amount of tax. However, a small minority attempt to reduce the amount of tax they have to pay by engaging in tax avoidance.

It is Revenue policy to challenge tax avoidance schemes and unintended use of the legislation which threatens tax yields and the fairness of the tax system. A new Tax Avoidance page on the Revenue website contains guidance on what Revenue considers to be tax avoidance, together with information on the various legislative tools available to Revenue to detect and tackle it.

We encourage taxpayers to review their tax and duty affairs regularly and to quantify and report any irregularities to Revenue. The same approach should be taken in relation to tax avoidance.